Pennine Way 2010 – Day Five

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking”
Friedrich Nietzsche

The longest day of the walk so far at almost 18 miles has left my feet feeling warm and slightly abused, not sore exactly and nothing to worry about, but they know they’ve had a day out for sure. The weather was pretty much perfect today too – sunny, but plenty of light cloud cover and almost no wind to speak of, apart from on the most exposed sections.

I arrived down for breakfast at 08:00 and met my fellow lodger, Nigel. He’s the solo walker who wears jeans, from the Old House on Day 1. He’s also stopping at Beck Hall tonight, but he’s finishing at Horton tomorrow. He set out about 08:20, a good 30 mins before I was ready, so I didn’t really expect to see him until the evening.

As it was I met him about a mile outside Garsdale, he was searching for the path, which is easy to lose around there – too many fields and not enough fingerposts. We walked together into the village where he stopped for lunch in one of the cafes and I settled for a huge ice cream from a little van by the canal locks. But again, I find myself jumping ahead.

Woodland House is an excellent place to stay and both hosts are experienced walkers, having done the C2C a few years ago, you can’t go wrong booking here.

The first four miles of the day are tough, three nasty climbs account for nearly all of the days 2400 feet of ascent. No sooner have you reached one summit than you plummet down the other side of the hill and are presented with another steep climb. The drop down to Lothersdale is the most impressive – a real knee trembler down into a lovely picture postcard village, but the most dispiriting thing is the sight of the immense hill you face on the other side, up to Pinhaw Beacon.

The Beacon is the high point of Elslack Moor, a tiny oasis of moorland in a day almost completely dominated by fields and pastures. In fact I found this to be the most disappointing day of the walk so far, apart from the final four miles or so through Airton and Hanlith and into Malham.

Every long path has these “transition” days though, as you move from one scenic area to another and looking ahead as you approach Malham you can see the limestone hills and Malham Cove, hailing the start of “Limestone Country”.

The peat moorlands are behind me, I’ve been very lucky and crossed them mostly dry-shod. I’ve also had some of the best possible weather with which to experience them – let me clarify. The best weather for walking the high moorland of the Peak District is lowering, swirling mist, with ocassional light showers or drizzle, cold enough to mist your breath and to make you long for a warm fire at the end of the day. That was pretty much what I got.

I’ve walked almost all the distance of tomorrows walk, at various times on various walks, so I know what to expect. I’m not looking forward to the steep little pull up PYG after 11 miles, but it’s got to be done 🙂

I said farewell to the Lost Boys today. They were resting on the first climb out of Cowling this morning and are suffering from blisters and cramps, their pace has dropped to little more than a crawl, but they were only walking to Garsdale today and then Malham tomorrow, so I’ll be a day ahead of them now. They seem determined to plod on, they’re camping all the way and they have the biggest packs. Good luck to them!

I only have a ropey wireless signal in the Beck Hall, so no photo today I’m afraid. Orange seems to be the best service provider on Malham as a matter of interest.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and leaving comments, its great to get to the end of the day and catch up on the messages.

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9 Responses

How did PYG go? I think that is my favourite Dales peak. We did Gragareth, Green Hill, Great Coum and Crag Hill on Saturday. This Saturday is Great Shunner Fell and Lovely Seat. Keep up the good work and the excellent write ups.

Sorry to hear about the winds you’ve been getting Lone Walker but lets be positive and say that at least it’s stayed dry for you. Sounds like you’re having a good time anway so keep it up. Left, Right, Left, Right.

I know where you’ve been, LW, both physically and mentally.
I therefore know you’ve been to Gargrave, not Garsdale lol.
Give your feet a treat every night, if you can – a nice soak in warm water, a good rub with a rough towel, and something nice and creamy so they feel loved.

Incidentally, I was up on the PW near Kidhow Gate about 10 days ago and got views as far as the Scafells and Cross Fell. If you get lucky with the weather it is a superb spot, and although you can’t identify Kinder and Bleaklow you can actually see that far.

The Trailblazer guide is pretty up to date for the PW facilities, the only updates I could make so far were at Cowling with the restaurant.

The wind has dropped now and been replaced with some ridiculous winter conditions. Very frosty this morning and snow flurries between Horton and Hawes as well as a cracking hail shower.

Apologies for the geographical problem re Garsdale / Gargrave. I do know where I’m going honest, it’s just the altzheimers kicking in.

I can’t post any more pics really but will add them when I get home. The phone signals aren’t great and don’t allow me to attach multiple photos. Also not found many WiFi spots along the route which would make things easier.

Thanks for all the comments it’s a real tonic at the end of a hard day 🙂

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About the author

I'm fast approaching my dotage it seems, with various bits of my body refusing to work in the way they used to, but I still manage to drag my sorry load up a few hills every now and again. Lover of the Yorkshire Dales, fell-walker, trig-pointer, peak-bagger, Wainwright-er & Pennine Way author. I have a passion for long paths, malt whisky, fast cars & Man City. I love getting comments in the blog, so please don't be shy, stop by and say hello! You can email me at stuart at lonewalker dot net